Author Carlo Gebler makes a very intriguing point about writing too much a day being harmful to your work in one of his YouTube interviews.
He says the psyche, imagination, subconscious or where ever we get our creativity is a bit like a dog. If you take it for a walk at 07:30 (or whatever time you write), the 1st morning it's in its basket sleeping. The 2nd morning it's in the basket awake. The 3rd morning it’s out of the basket near the front door. The 4th morning it’s out of the basket with its lead in its mouth near the front door and will go crazy if you don't take it out, your subconscious is the same.
He says too many aspiring writers make the mistake of continuing to write when they are on a roll going way past their daily limit. This stretches their subconscious too far leading to the creation of mud which their subconscious struggles with the next day.
Know your limit, set your limit and when you reach it stop and your subconscious will reward you by not only continuing to work when your done enhancing creativity when you return.
I’ve followed this advice religiously for the second half of my book never going over 500 words a day.
What is your limit and what do you think of Carlo Geblers take on this?
Gebler has his way ... we each have ours too. I write when I want to and how much I want to and that includes notes in the middle of the night if necessary. I never set myself limitations or schedules and never will.
Think about this. You just reach your 500 word limit and you're on a roll ... then have to stop. Uh uh .. not me.
:)
Go with what works for you. There is a reason why some people run marathons and others don't: we're all different. I can write a thousand words, or I can write a hundred; I can spend a lot of time editing, too. It's all down to the individual.
What Gebler is talking about with the dog allusion is patterning. That's got nothing to do with the creative process, and a lot to do with training a dog to expect something at a certain time - to creating a habit. You can write according to a prescribed timetable, until that timetable is interrupted; or you can let the words flow when they want to. Sometimes they come in a rush - because you've had an inspiration in the night, perhaps, that's solved a problem - and sometimes it's like pulling teeth. Even if you sit down at the same time of day with an hour in which to write clear and free, it doesn't guarantee anything.
If you applied Gebler's theory to other walks of life, does he mean that no-one should work for more than the equivalent of 500 words a day, since many jobs require imagination and creativity? The world would grind to a halt.
Writing is a job; you have to work at it, and you have to be flexible. Unlike a dog, whose bowel movements require a set outing at a set time, you can be adaptable!
I think it depends on what state of mind one is in. If I am inspired, I can easily write 2000 words in a sitting. If I'm not, then I try and write - time allowing as I am a mother, teacher and performer, cook, cleaner, etc - at least 1000.
As a violinist, you know that you have to do the hard graft, to keep the muscles in trim. That is why it is important to play scales, studies etc - it's not all about inspiration and I think that any art form is like that. Even if you're struggling, I think it's important to try and get the words down - if you are serious about writing and not just doing it for a hobby, I mean. Sometimes, I find it really hard to get the words out, but then the next day I go over it again and I find that, in the editing process, I almost always find my inspiration and can turn the skeleton of words I wrote the day before, into something more worthwhile.
After all, if one were a "professional writer" of any sort and only wrote 500 words a day, I shouldn't imagine one would get very far!